In a statement, the bank’s Group Managing Director, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, said: “The bank is committed sustainably to the eradication of the AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. This informed the initial donation of $1million to the Global Fund to fight this pandemic and the partnership of the Bank with Friends Africa to host the Sustainable Health Financing Forum in Nigeria.”

Aig-Imoukhede stressed that the Global Fund’s “Gift from Africa project” was designed to “provide the African private sector with an opportunity to provide responsible leadership and demonstrate to the world that Africans are prepared to play an active part in solving the continent’s challenges.”

Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Mark Dybul, said double-digit declines in mortality from the three diseases could be jeopardised if donors fail to top up the fund.

Friends Africa is committed to financing of prevention and treatment of the AIDS virus and other global killers will use the forum to urge top donors to provide an additional $15 billion to fight infectious diseases over the next three years or risk reversing a decade of advances in care.